251 



ECPOLUS PAPILLOSUS, U. Sp. An UNRECORDED HyDRACHNID 



FOUND IN Britain. 



By Chas. D. Soar, F.R.M.S. 



(Bead January lltJi, 1902.) 



Plate 15. 



Towards the end of 1901 Mr. Taverner found in the New 

 Biver a mite he was unable to recognise. This was sent to me 

 to identify, but I was unable to do so, as the specimen was quite 

 unlike any mite I had previously seen. I made drawings of it, 

 and looked through all the figures I have of water mites, but 

 the only one I could find at all near it was Koenike's Ecjjolus 

 ticberatus, described and figured in his Hydrachnidae of Mada- 

 gascar and Nossi Be. (Abhandl. der Senckenbergischen Naturf. 

 Gesellschaft, Band XXI., p. 368, Figs. 73-79.) But it was quite 

 different in structure, so that' it could not be the same species, even 

 if belonging to the same genus, of which I had doubts. After I 

 had finished my drawings, I sent tracings of them to Dr. Koenike, 

 of Bremen. He replied to my letter saying that the animal was 

 quite unknown to him, but he thought it belonged to the genus 

 Ecpolus. There seems no doubt, therefore, that the mite under 

 consideration is new to science, and as my friend Mr. Taverner 

 has asked me to name and figure it, I propose to call it Ecpolus 

 papillosus on account of its exaggerated papillae on the dorsal 

 and ventral surfaces. So far only the female has been found. 



The following are the details as to size and specific character- 

 istics : — Body, about 0*63 mm. in length and 0*46 mm. in 

 breadth, of a pale orange colour. The skin is chitinous, but 

 not so hard and brittle as we find in Arrhenurus. The whole 

 surface is covered with fine papillae, but it has also a large 

 number of projections or exaggerated papillae, which pioject from 

 the body as much as 0*04 mm. to 0*05 mm. These are very 



